What is the relationship between democracy and political culture in countries undergoing major systemic change? Have subjective political orientations of citizens been important in shaping the development of democracy in central and eastern Europe after the fall of communism? These core questions are tackled here by a range of experts.

Citizens living in presidential or parliamentary systems face different political choices as do voters casting votes in elections governed by rules of proportional representation or plurality. Political commentators seem to know how such rules influence political behavior. They firmly believe, for example, that candidates running in plurality systems are better known and held more accountable to their constituencies than candidates competing in elections governed by proportional representation. However, such assertions rest on shaky ground simply because solid empirical knowledge to evaluate...

Im Mittelpunkt der 18 Originalbeitrage steht das fur die Entwicklung moderner Gesellschaften zentrale Problem der Wechselbeziehung von politischen Fuhrungsgruppen und politischen Institutionen. In theoretischer und empirischer Perspektive wird vor allem ein Thema variiert: die Bedeutung politischer Fuhrungsgruppen fur die politische Willensbildung der Gesellschaft. Neben den klassischen Fragen der Elitenforschung zur Herkunft und Rekrutierung der politischen Klasse sowie Fragen der politischen Reprasentation werdendie Aspekte von Konflikt und Konsens, von Innovation und Wandel behandelt."